Sam Rockwell‘s time may finally have come. The 49-year-old actor has long been on the list of acclaimed talents who have been continuously passed over for an Oscar nomination. In fact, Rockwell’s been so snubbed that indie film legend didn’t even earn an Independent Spirit Award nomination until 2012 (and, mind you, didn’t win). His one Spirit nod was for Martin McDonagh’s “Seven Psychopaths” and now the British and Irish filmmaker may have given Rockwell the role that will finally lead to an Academy Award breakthrough.
In McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Rockwell plays Jason Dixon, a small town police officer who is blatantly racist, seemingly ignorant and, arguably, an idiot. He’s such a blowhard it’s initially unclear why the town’s common sense Sheriff Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) puts up with him, especially when he exacerbates tensions with local resident Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), a woman who is still upset that there hasn’t been one arrest in regards to the murder and rape of her teenage daughter. It’s an incredible turn by Rockwell and one that should absolutely find him invited to the Dolby Theater this March.
When we spoke last week Rockwell revealed he still had a few days to shoot on Adam McKay’s “Backseat.” That picture finds Christian Bale as Dick Cheney and Rockwell as President George W. Bush. But the primary focus of our conversation revolved around “Three Billboards,” possibly the Best Picture frontrunner at this stage of the race.
Note: There are some potential spoilers from “Three Billboards” in the Q&A below.
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The Playlist: Having worked with Martin McDonagh before what were your thoughts after you read the script for “Three Billboards”?
Sam Rockwell: Everytime you open up Martin McDonaugh script it’s like opening up a Christmas present. And you just turn every page and there is a new twist and turn you didn’t expect. It’s like that with everything we’ve done. Sometimes you have to get talked into something where you’ve talked yourself into doing a job. That’s not the case with a Martin McDonaugh script. It’s what we call a “no brainer.”
What you both of you pull of is remarkable because Jason’s character is so despicable and pretty much hard to root for during a good chunk of the picture. You never think you’ll at least have sympathy for him. It’s turns out to be a big redemption arc. Was it daunting at all?
No, it was just really juicy to me. It was just a challenging role. It’s all there. There is a roadmap that he’s written for you. You just try not to fuck it up, y’know, because it’s all there. It’s so good. And as long as you are doing your preparation and your homework I think you’re good. I did a little bit of research. I had never really played a cop before. [Although] I’d played a cop on “Law & Order.” I did some ride alongs in Missouri. A ride along in LA. I met a cop in Southern Missouri who was really helpful. I met some burn victims. I met with an acting couch. I have a dialect coach. Martin McDonaugh and I we go through the script and have our sort of private rehearsal. We’ve got to get on the same page. And we talked about various things and it’s always really easy with Martin. It’s always like, “Yeah, do a little bit of this. Do a little bit of that.” We debated the haircut a little bit. Initially Martin wanted longer hair and I said most of these cops have almost military cuts so I talked him into that. And we talked really geeky things like the sunglasses. It’s all in the details.
What about the sunglasses were so important to you?
I saw the sunglasses they wore because it was important for me to have the right authenticity. And I think Martin didn’t love the sunglasses initially. And then we sort of compromised on another pair. This is all really icing on the cake. Really you’re right, the redemption part also comes from just – spoiler alert – his face gets burned, y’know? So, I think [unless] you are playing a monster like Adolf Hitler if someone gets burned it’s going to change you. You could say this is a dramatic device to take us on this journey and show us a different side of this guy. Initially you peg him as a villain or comic relief or a villain/comic relief and he’s a little more complex than that. He’s a mamma’s boy. He’s a racist. Somehow he fights through that and almost becomes, dare I say, heroic.
In my opinion, he’s almost the one element of hope in the movie. The movie is so much about how hate begets hate, but he’s the one at the end who shows you can really come out of it. Was that something that was apparent to you when you were working on it?
Totally. I mean, I don’t know if I thought of the word “hope,” but I like that. That’s interesting. I think the movie does deal with hope, love and redemption. I love the letter that Willoughby sends to Dixon, “Y’know if you want to be a good detective you don’t even need a badge or a gun. You just need love because love opens up thought and thought leads to solutions. You need thought to become a good detective.”
Were you given any more of his backstory outside of the script? His relationship with his mother or anything else to frame your portrayal at all?
Well, there was a scene that was cut from the movie that we filmed where I got drunk. And my mother and I slept in the same room in two twin beds and I crawled into bed with her when I was drunk. That informs a lot about the character, we just cut the scene. Y’know, his oedipal complex didn’t stop at the age of three or five when most guys do. He probably continued and his mom was a dysfunctional person. And, in retrospect, when I think about it he was probably beaten by his father. And his father beat both of them. It was probably one of those sort of things.
You shot this in May, June 2016?
Yeah, it was awhile ago. It was in Ashville, North Carolina.
So, at the time the election was going, things were weird in the world. Trump was going to be the Republican nominee, Brexit hadn’t happened yet or maybe it happened while you were shooting. Yet, it didn’t seem like the world was flipping that much upside down. Fast forward a year and so many people I know who have seen the movie feel like it touches on a nerve of anger that people have and in how they are dealing with the day to day. Whether they are on social media or in other ways. When you were making it did it feel like the movie was something that would resonate so much in the current contextual climate of the world?
Well, Mildred who is Frances McDormand’s character is anything but politically correct. She’s an anti-hero. She’s John Wayne in a Western. I think that’s really a great thing for women in film right now to have an anti-hero like that. A vigilante, very complex woman. I think that’s a great protagonist and this was written eight years before Ferguson. A lot of this stuff and Charlottesville has happened since then and all this other stuff has happened. I think you’re right, it touches on a lot of things, but I think ultimately the movie is about love and redemption and yes it does have a lot of rage and all that. And I think what’s key with Martin’s material is that I think the movie is moving because anytime the movie starts to creep up on sentimentality, Martin infuses humor. And I think that keeps the movie from never becoming sentimental. I think that’s why the movie can carry so much emotion. It becomes this beautiful mix of style and substance and makes it all the more complex.
What did you think when you finally saw it?
I was blown away. And then to see it again at Venice. We got a standing ovation and this amazing reaction in Toronto. The Toronto reaction was overwhelming. You would have thought the producers paid off the audience to react that way. It was unreal. Every note was hit and the audience reacted to everything we wanted them to react to. Crying, laughing. I’ve never been to a screening like that in Toronto. It was unbelievable.
Have you finished shooting “Backseat”?
I get a little break and then I start up again in December for a few days.
What was that experience like playing former president George W. Bush?
Well, it’s really fun. I mean, Adam McKay is great. He’s a genius. He’s really great. He’s a nice guy and he lets you play and then Christian Bale is a bad ass. And he’s really in it. The poor guy is getting up at 2 in the AM to get into prosthetics. He’s got a suit on, he’s gained all this weight. He’s in it every day. My part comes and goes, but it’s interesting. It feels like a lead role even though it’s a supporting role because I’m on the internet every day watching and listening to George W. Bush. Even though it’s a supporting role it feels like a leading role because, as you said, it’s daunting to play a very famous guy and people have done really good versions of him, Will Ferrell and Josh Brolin. So, I’m trying to find a way to bring something else to it. It’s a hard act to follow some of those guys.
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” is now playing in limited release.